Peacock (Canon)
Peacock (JP: ピーコック) was originally a human girl by the name of Patricia Watson who was turned into an Anti-Skullgirl biomechanical weapon by Dr. Avian. Her arsenal consists of her "gang", which includes the Avery Unit, Andy Anvil, Tommy Ten-Tons, George Bomb and Lonesome Lenny. General Information Peacock is one of the original eight playable characters in Skullgirls, standing out as having the most (unique) assist characters. She is the youngest playable character to date, and among the first characters ever conceived. Her homestage is Lab 8. Peacock is capable of aging. Some of her parts may need to be re-fitted because of this. Peacock started smoking after becoming Peacock. They are imaginary cigars which are created like her other summons. Alex Ahad has stated that Peacock will never stop believing in imaginary friends. Peacock's favorite television program is "Annie: Girl of the Stars". She is shown to own merchandise from the show as she is seen wearing Sagan slippers while in her sleeping attire. Personality Nothing sates Peacock's boredom more than a good cartoon and laying waste to anyone or anything in her sight. Brash, combative, and impatient, Peacock is easily the most outspoken and infamous member of the Anti-Skullgirl Labs, as well as the most prominent. Peacock is also, for the most part, optimistic and light-hearted, and considers imminent threats more of invitations to brawl. Her tendency toward violence is a reflection of both her tragic past and near-death experience as well as the cartoons she cherishes. Despite having a damaged psyche, Peacock does not attack people out of sheer randomness or without provocation. Although rude and impersonal to fellow ASG Lab 8 members (and most people in general) superficially, Peacock still very much considers them family, and will go to certain lengths to protect them from harm (or in the case of her and Big Band's story mode, further harm). Dr. Avian was particularly close to Peacock, and his death sent her into an outrage to search for his murderer. None, however, are closer to Peacock than Marie Korbel, her one true friend from her past and the Skullgirl she was tasked to destroy. In the end, she disposes of Marie as she was instructed, but personally sees to it that Marie's wish to end the Medici Mafia is carried out. Backstory She used to dress as a maid along with Marie in Rommelgrad (since the orphanage they lived in was originally a nobleman’s house, they had to make do with the clothes that were available), before they were captured by slave traders. Patricia was too defiant to be a slave, so she was mutilated as an example to the others. Patricia has been Peacock for about a year or so. She rapidly adapted to her new set of eyes and developed advanced special awareness. Normally she would not be put in the field so soon but her adeptness with the Avery Unit made her one of the best bets against the Skullgirl. Character Basis Origin Peacock's dialogue and animations reference multiple cartoon eras, but chiefly feature 70's-80's era cartoon violence and slapstick. Name Her true name is Patricia Watson, with Peacock being the title of her experiment by Dr. Avian. The word "peacock" is the more commonly known name of the peafowl, but is actually the term for the male bird. The name Patricia is derived from the Latin word "patrician" and means "noble". Watson is a patronymic surname meaning "son of Walter". It should be noted that Walter means "ruler of the army", which accurately describes her relationship with her gang. Being once close friends, Marie continues to address her as Patricia. Her gang typically refer to her as "boss". Design Her natural eye color used to be green before they were gouged out by slave traders. The Argus System is Peacock's only means of sight, as the ones on her face are actually empty eye-sockets. The holes left are also a visual pun: Due to her design being based on American cartoons, her eye-sockets could easily be interpreted as though they are natural eyes; drawn in the style of a 1930's cartoon character. The joke is how similar styles of drawing can offer different perceptions on how something looks. Her cartoon revolver bears resemblance to the Smith & Wesson Model 29, a .44 Magnum revolver made famous by Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry. In older design concepts, Peacock was intended to be a more "demented type" character, originally being envisioned as a scarred, sociopathic individual due to her experience as a slave. At one point, she was considered to be a boss alongside Marie. Her design was changed to be more 'cartoony' and lighthearted. These design documents also included references to her abilities being part magic with spells being carved onto her bones. Story Once a war orphan slave named Patricia Watson, Peacock's body was gruesomely mutilated by slave traders that captured her. She was rescued by Dr. Avian’s Anti-Skullgirls Labs, and rebuilt with a reality-defying arsenal of biomechanical weaponry: the Argus System augmented her body, and the Avery Unit gave her access to unprecedented weaponry. Alas, they couldn’t do anything for her mind: Peacock’s damaged psyche and abiding love of cartoons shaped her new “toys” into a terrifying gang of cronies, whom she has no qualms using to paint the town red… with blood. As terrifying as she is, she may be the kingdom’s best bet against the Skullgirl. Ending After defeating the Skullgirl, which turns out to be her best friend Marie, Peacock destroys the Skull Heart, though the skull heart claimed her act to be "foolish" and that this will "not be over". She and Marie have a friendly conversation before Marie disappears from the world and vows to take revenge on the people who made both their lives miserable. She was seen confronting the true head of the Medici family and his own secret weapon (Black Dahlia) and the two duke it out. Abilities & Fighting Style With Peacock's physics-bending arsenal, nothing is sacred. She is a kind of character that will exploit any opportunity to its maximum and get away with it. No enemies of hers last long against her sharp eyes and sharper gun...blades. Her opponents last even shorter against her array of flower pots, baseballs, bowling balls, combustible toy cars, and countless other hazards that fill the air. Peacock never plays fairly, and isn't afraid to call in her goons to fight with her. In the rare occasions when Peacock can't topple her opponent, she can simply stall the battle until the timer runs out. The Avery Unit has the power to “distort” which is a side effect of Peacock’s insanity. She can’t create things out of thin air, but rather modify Lab 8’s range of specialised arsenal. There are certain limits and her summons are only temporary. Her power is still growing so she may be able to summon more things in the future. This is suggested in Big Band's story mode, were he warns Peacock that she 'ain't ready' yet and has to be taught her 'limitations the hard way', but understands her potential in the future by saying 'we're gonna need those girls if we don't want to lose the last of the light'. Trailer Color Palettes #Default colors #Original colors #Alucard (Hellsing) #Original colors #Original colors #Lucky the Leprechaun (Lucky Charms cereal) #Peacock's story mode intro pajamas #Black-and-white cartoons #Cirno (Touhou) #Original colors #Milk (The Super Milk-Chan Show) #Cable (Marvel VS Capcom 2) #Original colors #Hsien-Ko (Darkstalkers series) #Iron Tager (BlazBlue series) #The Warden (Superjail) #Inspector Gadget (Inspector Gadget) #Sayaka Miki (Puella Magi Madoka Magica) #Raspberyl (Disgaea series) - Indiegogo backer color #The Grinch (How the Grinch Stole Christmas!) - Staff-picked color (Originally removed prior to Skullgirls console release.) #Princess Daisy (Super Mario series) - Indiegogo backer color #Indian peafowl - Indiegogo backer color #The Joker (DC Comics) - Indiegogo backer color #Nonon Jakuzure (Kill la Kill) - Staff-picked color #Annie Trivia *Peacock's Ant Wasted move (c.MK) does not kill the ant, but rather the beam from the magnifying glass teleports it back to a safe area. In addition, all ants (if Peacock summons multiple through cancelling the move repeatedly) are the same ant, summoned from alternate universes. *People who donated $50 to the Skullgirls Evo 2013 Breast Cancer Donation Drive could request a personalized voice mail message from one of the game's voice actors. Peacock's voice actress was requested to sing "Yakko's World" from the cartoon show Animaniacs and two versions of this cover exist, the original with the voice unmodified and the Lab Zero edit which has the voice modified to match the filter Peacock's voice has in-game. *The name of Peacock's "Robo With a Shotgun" move is a reference to the 2011 film "Hobo With a Shotgun," which in turn is based on a fake trailer in the intermission of the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature film Grindhouse. *In an unused alternate ending, Peacock decides to "wish for something cool" and proceeds to make numerous outrageous wishes (such as turning the world's oxygen into chocolate), which the Skull Heart is unable to fulfill. Comically frustrated, she begins questioning its legend, and the Skull Heart laments that, in the thousands of years it has been doing its work, Peacock is the worst wisher it has met. *Peacock originally had an aerial move where she would fire one of her eyes off her Argus arms in a similar fashion to a bow and arrow. This move was dropped for being useless. *Peacocks's alternate title, The Murder-go-Round (and the full phrase from her character poster, "The 'Murder-go-Round' Broke Down") is a reference to the Looney Tunes theme song, from 1937 to 1969, known officially as "The Merry-go-Round Broke Down", reflecting her vintage cartoon theme. *Her Shadow of Impending Doom Level 3 - Avery drop is a reference to DIO's 'Road Roller Da!' super move from the 1998 arcade game JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. *As Peacock's appearance and playstyles seems to inspires the creator of Arc System Works' Guilty Gear series, Daisuke Ishiwatari, this eventually led him to create a new character for his current game's update, Xrd Revelator, known as Jack-O.